Machine for crimping metal plates or sheets



n Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1'.

' W. E. WILLIAMS. MACHINE FDR GRIMPING METAL PLATE-3' 0R SHEETS.

No. 510,559. Patented Dec. 12, I893.

NITED STATES WILLIAM E. WILLIAMS,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR CRIMPING METAL PLATES OR SHEETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,559, dated December 12, 1893.

Application filed September 21, 1892. Serial No. 446.456. (No model.)

To 00% whom it. may concern..-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Machine for Crimping Metal Plates or Sheets, of which the following is a specification.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference letters indicate like parts, Figures 1. to 5., inclusive, represent the machine, and Fig. 6. the finished productFigs. 1., 2., 3. showing the machine with its clamping-bar and crimping-jaws thrown back, ready to receive the blank plate; Fig. 4. showing the clamping-bar down before the jaws are closed 011 the plate; and Fig. 5. showing the position of the parts at the moment of completing a crimp. Fi 1. is a side elevation; Fig. 2., a top plan; Fig. 3., an end elevation; Fig. 4., a side elevation; and Fig. 5. a top-plan; and Fig. 6, a metal web for car-wheels, crimped on my improved machiner In apatent granted to me December 31,1889, No. 418,634,I described and illustrated a carwheel of my invention, having a web of sheet or plate metal crimped into the form shown here in Fig. 6.'the corrugationsheing narrow and deep at the hub, and widening out and running down to a common plane; or, in other words, running out at the rim. The machine which forms the subject of my pres ent application was designed-to facilitate the manufacture of such crimped or corrugated webs, by providing means whereby a suitable sheet or plate of metal can be readily crimped into uniform corrugations, and at the same time drawn into circular form, adapting it for use for the purpose indicated.

The invention consists in the several me-' chanical combinations and devices summa rized in the claims.

The construction and operation of the machine may be described as follows:

Upon a suitable table T.,'I secure a castiron or cast-steel bed-plate 13., having upwardly-projecting side-lugs Z). From these lugs forward, the bed-plate tapers in width to or nearly to its 7 front end, where it is provided with a vertical bolt-hole b. On the upper surface of the plate, extending from a point at or near the rear edge of the bolthole to a point near the side-lugs, is a raised anvil or crimping-block A., the form of which will be clearly understood by comparing the three views of it in Figs. 1., 2., 3. In general terms, it consists of two wedge-shaped elevations a. a'., formed on the bed-platethe elevation a. being in the form of a wedge lying on its side with its buttto the rear, and the elevation a. rising out of the part a. in v the form of a wedge lying base to the rear.

The operation of the machine is to crimp on its edge with its the blank sheet over and around the part a.

into the angle formed between the vertical walls of a. and the inclined top surface of part a. The means by which this is done are as follows: A rocking-plate or block D., journaled to the lugs 19. 1)., extends horizontally 7o backward, as shown at cl. (Fig. 2),thence upward to form a standard and clamping-bar, as shown at d. d (Figs. 1. and 3.), and thence forward to form a locking-bolt, as shown at (1 (Figs. 1. and 2.). The device D. may thus be turned upward and backward into the open position shown in Figs. 1., 2., 3., or forward and downward into the closed position shown in Figs. 4. and 5., in which latter case,

the locking bolt 01 will extend through the vil a'., and is projected somewhat forward of 8 5 the body of the standard (see Fig. 1), so as to come squarely down upon the top of the anvil a. when the standard is lowered to the position shown in Figs; 4;"and 5., and thus act as a clamping-bar to hold the metal sheet firmly in place on the anvilduring the crimping operation. At the sides of the standard 61'. are two pivoted crimping-jaws C. C'., each provided with a strong handle C The front faces of these jaws are wedge-shaped, as 5 shown in Fig. 3., and are adapted tofit against the side faces of the'anvil a. The two jaws are pivoted at top and bottom to the pivoted part D;, as shown at c. c. (Fig. 3.), their pivots being in line with the front cornersof the mo clamping-bar d so that when the latter is brought down upon the anvil, and-the handles C are then brought to a horizontal position,

as shown in Fig. 5., the faces of the jaws will blank sheet forward to produce crimps of the proper size and of uniform dimensions. The sheet which is to be crimped will be drawn into a circle by the crimping-operation, and should therefore be cut of suitable length to form the circle, and of a width somewhat more than equal to the length of the anvils a'., the excess being preliminarily turned down at right angles to the body of the sheet to form a narrow flange along its lateral edge.

In operating the machine, the two handles 0 are brought together to open the jaws, and the device D. is then turned back to theposition shown in Figs. 1., 2. and 3. The end of the sheet is then placed upon the anvil, with the flange of the sheet down and against the inner end of the anvil, and the lateral edge of the sheet parallel with the edge of the guideplate. The device D. is then turned down to clamp the sheet to the anvil, and the lockingbolt 62 is keyed in position, as shown in Fig. 4. The operators then grasp the two handles G and force them apart and downward to the position shown in Fig. 5., thereby causing the jaws C. C. to bend the metal down at each side of the anvil, and form a permanent crimp in the sheet. The handles are then raised,

the device D. turned back to the position shown in Figs. 1., 2. and 3., the sheet fed along a distance equal to the width of the outer end of the crimp already formed (which the gage will indicate), and the operation repeated. The final result is a crirnped sheet in the form shown in Fig. 6., having a narrow flange around its outer edge at right angles to the plane of the circle. The meeting edges are then brazed, soldered, or otherwise secured together, the hub cast in and the rim bolted on to finish the wheel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Inacrimping machine, thecrimping-block A., constructed with the wedge-shaped or 1nclined base a., and the wedge-shaped anvil a. formed upon the inclined face of the base 6b., in combination with means for bending the metal to be crimped upon and in conformity to the anvil a; substantially as described.

2. In a crimping machine, the combination of the wedge-shaped anvil a. with a rocking clamping-plate having the wedge-shaped face d and with crimping-jaws pivoted to the rocking plate in line with the corners of the face (1 substantially as described.

3. In a crimping machine, the combination of the crimping-block A, constructed with the Wedge shape or inclined base a, and the wedge shaped anvil a; with the pivoted clamp D, having a wedge shaped face (1 adapted to come in contact with and clamp the blank upon the anvil; and crimping jaws pivoted to the clamp in line with the corners of the face 61 whereby the blank held upon the anvil may be crimped against the sides and assume the form of the anvil; substantially as described.

lVM. E. WILLIAMS. In presence of J. W. HILL, L. Hum. 

